UMHSEL Report: Team Great Plains

After catching the Upper Midwest High School Elite League both during the regular season and the playoffs, McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey enters notes on Shane Omdahl, the top Team Great Plains prospect eligible for the 2011 Draft, as well as Mark Bitzer, a Minnesota goalie eligible for the 2012 Draft. Two impressive North Dakotans eligible for the 2013 Draft are also featured.

Shane Omdahl (2011), C, Roseau/Team Great Plains

Calm and poised offensively, but intense physically .. good speed with the puck and good stride extension .. subtle explosiveness to emerge off the boards or out of the corner .. possesses a hard, crisp wristshot .. makes crisp, accurate passes .. able to calm difficult passes well .. remains calm on passes off target and does a good job of reaching and drawing them in .. strong stickhandler who's adept at dragging the puck around opponents .. able to make quick lateral stickhandling moves across his body .. confident with the puck and remains calm and can weave his way through traffic .. maintains his poise gloving down pucks and calmly makes plays afterward .. heads-up stickhandler who can assess his options with the puck, both while skating and stationary off the boards .. comes crashing in on the forecheck and finishes his checks with force .. able to thrust into his checks and level opponents .. makes opponents pay on suicide passes .. wins a lot of 50/50 battles with his strength on his skates and well-timed thrusting into opponents .. not uncommon to see him level opponents trying to check him .. sturdy at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds .. one of the most aggressively physical forwards in the UMHSEL and probably the most effective physically, but also brings a skilled offensive game .. selected to play for Minnesota Red at the Elite League NIT .. plays Minnesota high school hockey for Roseau and is a senior .. led Roseau in scoring in 2009-10 with 27 goals and 42 assists in 31 games .. no college commitment of yet.

Mark Bitzer (2012), G, Moorhead/Team Great Plains

Plays a strong technical game .. executes composed pad slides, although his crease movements could be quicker .. maintains a compact butterfly and does a good job of directing butterfly saves and kick saves into the corner .. also does a good job of sticking pucks into the corners .. controls rebounds from the chest protector well .. maintains his calm on point-blank chances and scrambles .. tracks the puck well and calmly adjusts his angle .. makes crisp glove saves .. even able to glove those difficult shots by the ear .. comfortable coming out of his crease and playing the puck .. able to crisply move the puck up the boards .. not tall at just under 5-foot-11, but has some mass at 195 pounds .. finished fourth in UMHSEL save percentage during the regular season at .926 .. plays Minnesota high school hockey for Moorhead and is a junior .. no college commitment of yet.

Luke Johnson (2013), C, Grand Forks Central/Team Great Plains

Best of the North Dakotan talent on Team Great Plains .. has an efficient, powerful stride that produces nice cruising speed .. good stride extension .. displays good quickness for loose pucks .. a heads-up stickhandler who is patient with the puck and does not rush plays .. one of the very best in the UMHSEL in being able to handle the puck with his head up and to assess the play .. confident with the puck .. adept at handling the puck away from his body and can draw it in .. makes smooth, crisp passes and can thread them through traffic .. dangerous off the half boards and spreads the puck around the offensive zone .. possesses a hard, crisp wristshot .. also has a hard slapshot .. engages physically for the puck .. has strong offensive vision, but also plays a defensively responsible game .. adequate size at 5-foot-10, 160 pounds, but has some time to grow .. son of former USHL coach and current St. Cloud State Assistant coach Steve Johnson .. both father and uncle, Chad, played minor pro hockey and were listed at 6-foot-1 .. led Team Great Plains in scoring during the regular season with 9 goals and 12 assists in 20 games .. selected to Minnesota Red for the Elite League NIT .. plays North Dakota high school hockey for Grand Forks Central and is a sophomore .. second in Grand Forks Central scoring in 2009-10 with 17 goals and 29 assists and helped the team win the North Dakota state championship .. no college commitment of yet.

Keaton Thompson (2013), D, Devils Lake/Team Great Plains

Youngest player in the UMHSEL and acquitted himself very well .. a bit upright in his skating, but still has decent speed .. makes smooth pivots from backward to forward, but isn't real explosive out of them and sometimes has a stutter step .. smooth circling backward with the puck .. makes hard, smooth, crisp passes, but needs to hone his accuracy .. has a crisp wristshot from the point .. also has a decent slapshot and keeps it low .. fairly confident with the puck and is willing to skate the puck .. distributes the puck well from the point on the powerplay .. isn't typically flashy in his stickhandling, but can drag the puck around opponents .. has decent speed backward, minimizes crossovers, and maintains a fairly wide track .. engages at or near the blue line, although with mixed results at this level of competition .. barely 15, but has decent size at 6-foot-0, 165 pounds .. if he were born two days later, he'd be eligible for the 2014 Draft .. plays North Dakota high school hockey for Devils Lake and is a freshman .. played varsity hockey for Devils Lake as an eighth-grader and led the team in scoring with 7 goals and 11 assists in 24 games .. no college commitment of yet.